The use of apparatus and/or processes for wrapping material around a plurality of articles to form a retainable assemblage is now known (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,216,640 issued Aug. 12, 1980 to Kaufman, 4,302,920 issued Dec. 1, 1981 to Lancaster et al, 4,235,062 issued Nov. 25, 1980 to Lancaster et al, 4,204,377 issued May 27, 1980 to Lancaster et al, 4,300,326 issued Nov. 18, 1981 to Stackhouse, 4,255,918 issued Mar. 17, 1981 to Lancaster et al, 4,110,957 issued Sept. 5, 1978 to Lancaster et al, 4,077,179 issued Mar. 7, 1978 to Lancaster et al, and 4,232,501 issued Nov. 11, 1980 to Stackhouse), and such apparatus and/or processes have heretofore been used in association with devices for spirally wrapping palletized articles with a web of stretchable material and the like.
Now known apparatus and/or processes for securing a net of stretchable material around articles have usually required the use of roper mechanisms to form the leading and trailing edges of the material into a rope-like configuration and/or have required provision of anvil members and clamping members for the holding and securing together of the rope-like leading and trailing edges of the material by, for example, tying, stapling or the use of ring clamps (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,271,657, issued June 9, 1981 to Lancaster, III et al, and 4,432,185, issued Feb. 21, 1984 to Geisinger).
Devices for producing closures have also been heretofore known and/or utilized wherein a bar is positioned adjacent to material at a bag opening or the like to be sealed, with the material then being rolled over the bar and the bar being folded at its ends to maintain closure (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,955,397).